Broiler



June 21, 1949. D. MILLIGAN 2,473,658

OILER Filed April 19, 1947 INVENTOR LAWRENCE D. MILLIGAN,

BYJZQMM ATTORNEYS Patented June 21, 1949 UNITE o STA-T ES- PAT slit FF is E,

BB'OILER Lawrence D, .Milligan, Lake, Forest, 111,, Application April 193 1947, Serial No. 742,685

(01. Mil-e151) 8 Claims.

This: invention: has. t0; doi-w-ithq a supporting stand-more especially atripod-which isparticularly adapted; for supporting a vbroiler; or other 7 cooking utensil, although not limited; to thatspe Onezof the major. objectssoi: ,my invention lsjtq provide a; supporting: stand; mad preferably of metal;whiclircamquickly and easily be assembled,

and" justzas quickly; and. easily bedisassembled ,or knockedidowni so-ithatqtheaparts an be. pa

intoa small spacey Anothenobject is:to:providea supporting stand; or tripod which is adapted to support a broiler;-

or other cookingutensilgandwhich will grippingly engage the bottomofthebroi-ler, or cooking utensilz to secure the:;.same thereon; and more especially to-provide asupporting stand or tripod of that character; which can-quickly and easily be:

assembled and disassembled.

The improved :supportingstand or tripod herein; described and: claimedzis particularly well;

ada-ptedior use, at. picnics; garden parties, beach partiesetc. .where'itiis desiredto set-upa broiler atra convenient. height above 'ground, and especially where-itis. desirabletobe able to disassemble-the; broiler.- andstand-and to pack the same supporting stand ortripodrwith a-broiler mounted;

thereon;

Fig. 2 is a plan viewof the supporting stand I or tripod-the broiler havingbeen removed;

Fig; 3 is-an .elevational ,view' of the supporting stand or tripod together-with a portion of the broiler mounted thereon;

Fig. 4 is an enlarged elevationalidetail view showing how thesupportingstand or tripod can,

beeflexed .to enable the same to-be grippingly enfi ed with the base of broiler; and

Fig. 5,is an.exploded view showing; the upper end portion of one of 1, thezlegs of the supporting stand or tripod, togetheriwithq fragmentary portionsof two-resilient spring-metal tie-members which, are adapted. for connection. to:- the associated leg torform, one corner of the-stand.

The completeeassemblageshown iniFig; 1 cornprises; a-broi-ler ID anda supporting stand I! onwhich the broiler isgremovablygmounted,

The; broiler: is '5 preferably of the-type and constructionidisclosed and;claimedirrapplicants copending application; Serial :No; 6%,448; filed :Febg.

ruary, 8, 194163.. and?.consistsrofcrthree major components; namely: a base.=-I2, a'fire potul3 andaa The base I2 :preferablyis cast'of metal; 1

grill l4: such'as-iron or: aluminum, and comprises a disk-. likebottom'plate' I 2a and an arcuate vertical wall I-Zbhaving a discontinuityforming an opening;

through which air isadmitted'tothe under-side of the fire pot for the purpose of supporting corn. bustion.

The fire pot I3'preferably is analuminum casting shapedilike a bowl and having'a depending annular neck I3a'. which projects downwardly in-.

side-wall, I21) and serves to center-thefire poton the base'casting. I2: Thezlspace underneath the fire potand'insidewa ll I21) constitutes anashpit; Near thexbottomsof .the fire pot and above the ashipit is agrate I 3b which may either 'be integral:

with-the fire-pot casting or a separate part.

The grill I4 comprises a rectangular wire rim. Mar-to which is welded a, number of laterally spaced-rigidcrosswires l lb: Said grillirests ontopofrtheafire potv andqis secured against acci-r dental; displacement by means of four lugs I; which are cast integral with the The pot: and projectiupwardlybetween adjacentwires of the grill;

Theg'rill MI, fire-potr l3-and' base I2 are easily separable,and the baseccan bestowed inside the fire-pot,thusminimizing the space required to. store the ,broilerwhen ;it is not in use.

The standglly which constitutes the subject 0 matter of this invention, is a, tripod comprising,-

threeulegs I5; I6 and; I'I, disposed symmetrically about the: vertical axis; of thestand. and each-v tilted. at; an acute angle v-to'the v-v'e'rtical so that their lower-endsare considerably spread to afford; greater; stability. Each; le 7 consists, preferably,. of 1 a 3round-aluminum bar of a .lengthsufficient to 1 elevate-.thebroiler' to a convenient height, and: each preferably is pointed at its lower end, as shown, and 'reducedein-diameter'atits upper end toform, a shoulder-'as-indicatedat15a in Fig, 5;

The upper -end portion ofeach leg is intercom. nected withitheupper end=portions of the two re-. maining legs by. means of rectangular spring steel strips or tie-members I8, I9=and 20; which strips, or tie membersare each providedat' one endwith as tapped hole- 20:: and at: the 1 other end with an uptapped clearance hole 21+s'eeFig. 5.

All the legs I 5; I fif'and" I 'I are identical and each has athreaded portion ISbof reduced diameter. ancl an unthreaded portion I50 of slightly smaller diameter. The portions I51)= aredimensioned each to pass through the untappediclearance hole 2ilvin-one of the strips ortie-membersand threaded tolengage the-'tappcd'hole 2-0 a in the other.

, Thus;-. as: shown -inhFig;. 5.;1the upper portions I51 and I50 of leg l5 are dimensioned to pass through the untapped hole 2| in one end of strip I8 while the thread on portion |5b engages the tapped hole in strip l9. As will be apparent, the tapped end of strip l9 functions as a nut to clamp strip I8 against shoulder Mia; and the same arrangement obtains at the upper end of each of the other two legs.

The three strips or tie members I 8, I 9 and 20 are so bent, see Fig. 3, as to cause the three legs I5, [6 and I! to assume an appropriate angular stance. This can be accomplished by bending each strip at the center, as illustrated, or at each end, as may be preferred.

The upper ends I50, I 60 and Ho of the three legs project upwardly above the tie members and at the same angle to the vertical as that of the legs; and said upper ends constitute lugs or fingers encircling the base plate lZa and so positioned that their inside upper extremities normally lie on a circle of smaller diameter than that of said base plate l2a, with the result that said fingers or lugs are adapted to overlie the peripheral edge of said base plate as most clearly depicted in Figs, 3 and 4. Thus, said lugs or fingers are efiective to grip and secure the base I 2 to the stand.

In order to mount the base l2 of the broiler on its supporting stand it is necessary to spread the three fingers I50, I60 and l'lc sufliciently to admit between them the base plate Ma; and this is done, as depicted in Fig. 4, by applying laterally directed pressure to one or more of the legs so as to flex two or more of the spring steel strips l8, l9 and 2B. In carrying out this operation the usual practice is to place two of the legs in contact with the ground at their lower ends while holding the remaining leg out of contact with the ground to enable its lower end to be pressed toward the vertical axis of the stand; and the same procedure is ordinarily followed in detach ing the base of the broiler from the stand. v

It will be seen that my invention provides a novel supporting stand which is inexpensive to produce while at the same time being rigid and durable and capable of being easily and quickly' assembled and disassembled and which, in addition, is adapted by virtue of its gripping action to minimize the possibility of the broiler being overturned when in use. Having described my invention, what I claim as new and wish to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. A supporting stand for a cooking utensil or the like comprising at least three separate unconnected elongate legs arranged symmetrically about a vertical axis and spaced radially from said axis at both their top and bottom ends, said legs each being inclined upwardly toward said axis, said legs being interconnected near their upper ends only through the medium of one or more tie members, the upper end portions of said legs each extending through said tie member or mem-- bers and forming fingers which are operative'con jointly to grip the base of the cooking utensil,

said tie member or members being suificiently' flexible in the horizontal plane to enable said fingers to be spread apart to receive the base of the cooking utensil by moving the lower ends of said legs laterally toward the vertical axis of the stand, said tie member or members being operative to spring-press said fingers radially against the base of the cooking utensil.

2. A supporting stand for a cooking utensil or the like comprising three separate unconnected elongate legs disposed symmetrically about a vertical axis and spaced radially from said axis at both their top and bottom ends, said legs each being inclined upwardly toward said axis, three resilient strips interconnecting the upper end portions of said legs, said strips forming, conjointly, an equilateral triangle with one of said legs at each apex, and three fingers integral with the legs and located adjacent the apices of said triangle and projecting upwardly from said strips and converging upwardly toward said vertical axis, said fingers being operative, conjointly, to grip the base of the cooking utensil, said fingers being mutually spreadable at their upper ends by flexing said strips.

3. A supporting stand for a cooking utensil or the like comprising three elongate legs disposed symmetrically about a vertical axis and spaced radially from said axis at :both their top and bottom ends, said legs each being inclined upwardly toward said axis, three resilient spring metal strips interconnecting the upper end portions of said legs, said strips forming, conjointly, an equilateral triangle with one of said legs at each apex, respectively, said strips being overlapped at adjoining ends, each of said legs having an upper end portion of reduced diameter, each of said upper end portions projecting through the overlapped end portions of its associated strips and threaded into the upper one of said strips, the diametrically reduced upper end portions of said legs projecting upwardly above said strips to form fingers for gripping the base of the cooking utensil.

4. A supporting stand for a cooking utensil or the like comprising three elongate legs disposed symmetrically about a vertical axis and spaced radially from said axis at both their top and bottom ends, said legs each being inclined upwardly toward said axis, resilient spring metal means of triangular configuration interconnecting the upper end portions of said legs, each leg being located near one of the apices of the triangle, each said leg having a diametrically reduced upper end portion extending through and threaded into said spring metal means and projecting upwardly above said-spring metal means to form fingers which are mutually operative to grip the base of the cooking utensil, said fingers being mutually spreadable at their upper ends by flexing said spring metal means.

5. A stand comprising a plurality of spaced legs, tie members operatively connecting the legs together, said tie members being bowed intermediate their ends to render resiliency to said members when connected to said legs to provide a predetermined amount of movement to said legs, each of said legs protruding through the adjacent ends of adjacent tie members.

6. A stand comprising a plurality of spaced legs, tie members operatively connecting the legs together, said tie members each having an opening in one end thereof to slip freely over an end of a leg, the other end of each tie member being provided with a threaded opening for threaded engagement with an adjacent leg.

'7. A stand comprising a plurality of spaced legs, tie members operatively connecting the legs together, said tie members each having an opening in one end thereof to slip freely over an end of a leg, the other end of each tie member being provided with a threaded opening for threaded engagement with an adjacent leg, said legs having extensions protruding above the tie members to receive a member therebetween.

8. A stand comprising a plurality of spaced 5 6 legs, tie members operatively connecting the legs together, said tie members each having an open- REFERENCES CITED ing in one end thereof to slip freely over an end The following references are of ec rd n t of a leg, the other end of each tie member being file of this patfintl provided With 2. threaded opening for threaded 5 UNITED STATES PATENTS engagement with an adJacent leg, said legs having extensions protruding above the tie members to Nmnber Name Date receive a member therebetween, said tie members 927,524 Goode 7 July 13, 1909 being deformed intermediate their ends to provide 1,635,938 Dultmeler 21 1923 resiliency to the tie members to permit limited 1o movement of the legs when connected, whereby said member may be clamped frictionally between said extensions.

LAWRENCE D. MILLIGAN. 

